Singapore’s unemployment rate reached a 16-year high in 2020 and retrenchments doubled from 2019. For many, Circuit Breaker 2020 and Phase 2 Heightened Alert 2021 = drastic drop in come or even no income. A study by Beyond Social Services with more than 1,000 applicants of Beyond’s Financial Assistance Fund (FAF) conducted last year revealed…
Recently, there was an announcement about lower-wage self-employed people (SEPs) having to contribute to their Medisave to qualify for government payouts. Under the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme, eligible lower-wage workers, including those who are self-employed and freelancers, get up to $2667 in Workfare payouts a year. To benefit from Workfare, all lower-wage employees and…
Women have been subjected to so many trials and tribulations over the course of history. The Feminist movement has grown over the years, with change makers from the west the likes of Maya Angelou, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Angela Davis and more. From being given the right to vote, going out to get jobs, to getting…
“We need to take further steps to strengthen the Singaporean Core by levelling the playing field for our Singaporean PMEs and ensuring fairness,” says Patrick Tay, Assistant Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). In a recent session in parliament, labour MP Patrick Tay shared some anxieties and fears that the economic disruption brought…
Both lift and escalator technicians will see their wages increase under the Progressive Wage Model from 2022. They will also receive a mandatory annual bonus of at least one month of basic wages from January 2023. This will ensure that a worker on the lowest job level will earn at least $2,075 a month in…
The past year has been tough on everyone due to Covid – including our migrant workers. They were the ones who were at the forefront of the initial Covid battle in Singapore, when a major outbreak was spreading in the dormitories. In addition, they have had to face additional pressures from being separated from their…
I was in a cab alone to go get vaccinated at my nearest community centre. The driver, let’s call him Uncle Lim. Uncle Lim immediately started chatting with me, asking if I was going to go get my jab and did his best to reassure me that all will be well, “not pain one”, he…
As Work from Home (WFH) continues to be the norm during Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), many drivers continue to bear the brunt after earnings have reportedly halved. Many drivers, especially those using Grab, were not happy after Grab announced that they would increase fares by $1. They gave the feedback that the move would not…
We call our frontline workers ‘heroes’, but are we really treating them like heroes? Let’s hear from Yixian, General Manager at Ban Chuan Trading & Engineering Pte Ltd as he shares on the challenges faced by the cleaning industry and its workers, as well as his hopes for the industry. Ban Chuan currently employs about…
By now, we’re all probably a little sick and tired of hearing or reading anything that has to do with the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, we just want this horrible virus to go away so we can all get on with our lives. Enter a special group of heroes, who have been labouring silently behind…